Steven Kruisjwijk (Team Jumbo-Visma) has chosen the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España as his main targets for 2019.

The 31-year-old has decided to ride these two Grand Tours and will aim for a podium position in them. "I think the Giro is also a very nice race and I will definitely ride it again, but this time the choice to combine the Giro and the Tour was not the right one," said the rider in a video published by his team.

"I think the course of the Tour of next year fits me well."

In 2018, the Dutchman finished in the fifth position of the General Classification at the Tour de France, and then he finished fourth at the Vuelta a España. "I am now looking to step on the podium of a Grand Tour," he explained. "That will be my aim for next year. That podium is the ultimate goal."

Kruisjwijk will share the leader position at the French Grand Tour with the sprinter Dylan Groenewegen, who has already won three stages at the race including the Champs-Elysees circuit in 2017. Robert Gesink, Tony Martin and George Bennett will be in charge of assisting Kruijswijk in the mountains, while the rest of the team will be Groenewegen's lead-out train.